All Forum Posts by: Jennifer L.

I'm not sure how you can structure this, but if you just put the money in an account for the kids, you can't really dictate how those funds are invested or spent.   

Also, you have an adult, married son.  So you would need to be extra careful with any funds that were place in his name.  Depending upon the laws in his state, it could be subject to community property.  (Although I can't remember if gifts are separate property.)  I certainly wouldn't put it in an account with both of your childrens' names.  That could get really, really messy.

I think with my adult son, I would see if he was interested in learning your trade and try to include him in the process.  Pay him if he helps.  If he isn't interested, or doesn't want to help, he's an adult and he can learn his own way.

Given all this, I think the better course is to set the money aside in an account in you and your wife's name with the idea that if your children come to you in the future and want to venture into this, then you would have the capital to help them get started.  I just don't think that handing kids a chunk of money is a good idea.  In general, people do better with money they have earned.  Just my two cents.

@Yan Kang I think that in certain areas, allowing dogs in your rental can give you a competitive advantage over other rental properties.  You do need to consider the extra wear and tear that can come from certain breeds as well as the increased liability.  Talk to your insurance provider before deciding whether you want to adopt a policy of accepting dogs.  

In the alternative, instead of funding a 529 plan, you could purchase a rental property now and use that to fund college.  Before I was married, I purchased a small home.  I moved into my husband's home after we married and we rented out my home.  When my kids were 2 and 4, I refinanced the rental to a 15 year loan so it would be paid off before my oldest graduated high school.  I made extra payments early in the loan and I am now scheduled to have this paid off in the junior year of my oldest child. 

The home has more than doubled in equity from when I purchased it.  If I need to pull out money to cover two kids in college (I fully expect to need to do this), then I can still rent the home at a profit, and have deductions for my rental income.  When the kids are done with school, instead of having an empty 529 account, I'll still have a rental property.

And if my kids decide that the don't want to go to college, I'm not stuck having to pay a penalty to use my money in another way.

@Rebecca B. I don't believe that you can make a partial payment through Cozy.  But if you send them an email, they are quite responsive.

I've had mixed results in quality of applicants from Craigslist and Zillow.  Ultimately, I leased to a Zillow lead, but I had a couple of very solid back up applicants from Craigslist.  Conversely, I had some sketchy people contact me through Zillow, one of whom freaked me out so much that I brought a friend with me to the showing.  He was fine, as it turns out, but was signing his emails inappropriately and I never would have rented to him.

@Jill Patton I used Cozy for my last round of applications.  The background/credit checks came back quickly.  What I like about this is that I also use Cozy for rent collection so it is easy to transition your tenants to this payment service if that is your preference.

I will say this, I also check the local civil database for any open cases.  This last time, I found one potential tenant who sued a local small business and won a 6 figure judgment.  When she asked if she could look at my property without me present, I told her absolutely not, she could only come onto the property if I was there.  (I sited the 24 hour notice rule even though my tenants had vacated.)  Another claimed that he had temporary credit issues but I found judgments that just fell off his credit report, demonstrating long-term financial issues rather than a temporary issue. 

@David Stone  Yes, I've been using Cozy for my rental property since July of 2015.  Since then, I've had one tenant turnover.  It is great for collecting rent (just factor in an extra 5 business days for the deposit of funds - it is a little slow). But I really like it for applications and tenant screening.  Since I only advertise online, everyone is able to fill out an online application.  Once I've pre-screened the applicant and they have indicated that they want to move into the property, then I have the adults pay for the credit and background check.  After that, it is super-easy to convert the new tenants into online payments through Cozy.  

So for this last transaction, application was paperless, security and first month's rent was submitted through Cozy, and I did electronic lease signing through HelloSign.  I couldn't have been easier.

I recently started a lease with tenants moving from New York.  We used HelloSign to get the lease signed electronically.  No need to FedEx.

@Julie Marquez When I was showing my rental, lots of people asked about the fireplace.  People find them cozy and inviting. Unless your dad is going to prohibit the use of the fireplaces in the lease, then I think the fireplaces should be highlighted.    

Also, I have a father who is also a landlord.  I love him dearly, but he has a lot of old-school ideas that don't translate to attracting today's renters.  

@Julie Marquez The first picture in your ad should be the best picture of your property.

If people need to move in right away, but you are still working on things, then negotiate that.  Tell them, I'm still working on x,y an z.  In my experience, tenants don't mind and actually appreciate that you continue to care about the house after it is rented.